Where have all the patients gone?
Representative Tim Murphy opened yesterday’s House subcommittee hearing on the shortage of psychiatric beds with this question. A panel of experts, including GMC’s own Gunther Stern, spoke for over two hours about the lack of adequate mental health care and the impact it has on families, taxpayers’ dollars, and our society.
This hearing, held by The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, is part of the Committee’s ongoing oversight of Federal spending on research and treatments for mental illness. The hearing, as described in the hearing’s memo, examined “the strain that this shortage exerts on the seriously mentally ill throughout our communities in the form of homelessness as well as increased contact with law enforcement and the criminal justice system, more generally.”
Keep reading for a few excerpts from panelists’ testimonies.